All posts tagged Lamb-lamp

In Matthew 16:28 the Lord said that some disciples would see “the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” A week later three saw Him transfigured. This is the kingdom of God with the glory of God. Ultimately, the kingdom and glory is New Jerusalem. John tells us that he saw the city has the throne of the kingdom at its center and has the glory of God (Rev. 22:1, 21:10-11).

The seeing of the kingdom in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 gives us a preview of New Jerusalem. These chapters speak not about outward power but about the appearance of the Lord.
“He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light.” (Matt. 17:2)
“He was transfigured before them, and His garments became sparkling, exceedingly white.” (Mark 9:3)
“And as He prayed, the appearance of His face became different, and His garment dazzling white.” (Luke 9:29)

Although Jesus knew beforehand that this transfiguration would happen, Luke records that He prayed. We need to pray to release what God wants for His kingdom on earth, as in Matthew 6:9-10.

His prayer and transfiguration indicate that the change in His appearance was from within, not from outside. The Greek word translated transfiguration is also transformation in 2 Corinthians 3:18. There the word clearly indicates a change by the Spirit operating within us to bring us onward in glory.

The brightness of the Lord Jesus on the mountain is a preview of His brightness as the Lamb-lamp in New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:23). This is the glory of God radiating through Him, a glory brighter than the sun, so that New Jerusalem “has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it.”

Revelation 21:23 tells us, “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” Because the glory of God illuminates New Jerusalem, “there will be no night there” (v. 25).

God is light and God’s intention is to bring us into light. When we are in New Jerusalem we are fully and constantly in the divine light. This journey to the light of New Jerusalem is touched multiple times in the Bible.

Zachariah, father of John the Baptist, prophesied concerning the coming of Jesus, “the rising sun will visit us from on high.” God is light and He emphasizes the sunrise with its move toward full day; sunset is not in His desire. Some sunrise examples:
Isaiah 60:2, “the darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will rise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.”
Malachi 4:2,”unto you who fear My name will the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.”
Proverbs 4:18, ” the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”

When Jesus began His ministry, He came to Capernaum (Matt. 4:13-16). This fulfilled a prophecy in Isaiah 9, which says “The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen.” And at the end, He said, “I Jesus…am…the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16).

John 1 tells us that “the life is the light of men.” Life and light go together and heal us from blindness, sin, and death. This healing, and all the rising light is ultimately for the glory of New Jerusalem.

In Matthew 5:14 the Lord Jesus told His disciples, ” You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden.” But how dies this relate to New Jerusalem? We will use a few posts to consider this, but one obvious link is the word “city.”

Here the Lord tells His disciples “You are the light of the world.” In John 8:12 and 9:5 He says, “I am the light of the world.” How can we be what He is? It is because when we can receive Him into our being, He becomes both life and light within us.

He is “the light of life” and we are born again with this life. Now we have Christ as our life and our light. We become “children of God” who can “walk as children of light” and “shine as luminaries in the world” (Phil. 2:15).

The Greek word φωστηρ translated “luminaries” in Philippians is used only one other place in the New Testament—”Her [New Jerusalem’s] light was like a most precious stone” (Rev. 21:11). New Jerusalem shines because Jesus Christ is the light infusing the entire city.

Revelation 21:23 tells us, “the glory of God illumined it [New Jerusalem], and its lamp is the Lamb.” Because the city is transparent (21:21), clear as crystal (21:11), the glory of God in the Lamb radiates through the city to the entire universe. In this way, New Jerusalem is the fulfillment of the Lord’s word in Matthew 5:14.

The Old Testament temple is a picture of the New Testament reality. The picture is composed of three sections—the outer court, the holy place, and the holy of holies. in contrast, New Jerusalem is solely the holy of holies without an outer court or holy place. What changed?

The outer court is the location of the bronze altar and the laver. The bronze altar is for sacrifices. In New Jerusalem there will be neither sin nor sins, so we will have no need of those sacrifices. We will be absolute with God, fully at peace with Him, and nourished by Him in the holy of holies, so no need of the other offerings.

The laver is for the priests to wash away worldly and earthly defilement. Before New Jerusalem appears the world will have been judged and the old earth will be replaced by the new earth. Hence, the sources of defilement are gone and there will be no defilements for the laver to wash away.

The holy place contains the bread table, the lampstand, and the golden altar. In New Jerusalem we have the tree of life for nourishment. In New Jerusalem the Lord God as the light in the Lamb as the lamp will shine upon us (Rev. 22:5, 21:23). Therefore, there is no need of any other lamp.

In the holy of holies the budding rod shows our acceptance by God, which is more profound and inward than the satisfying fragrance from the bronze and golden altars. Again, this shows New Jerusalem has no need for what is outside the holy of holies.

In New Jerusalem we will be fully one with the Triune God in life and reality so we will have no need for anything outside this eternal holy of holies.

A series of posts for Revelation 1 to 20 look at the wonderful Jesus Christ bringing us to New Jerusalem. In Revelation 21:1 is the new creation and in 21:2 New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. Two recent posts look at the wonderful Jesus Christ in this new creation.

Continuing, Revelation 22:1 reveals “the throne of God and of the Lamb.” There is one throne for God and the Lamb because the two are one. In John 14:10 Jesus told us, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” And in Revelation 21:23 God, the light, is in the Lamb, the lamp.

In 22:2 “was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month.” This tree is a symbol of Jesus Christ, who is our life and who is our life supply as the living bread in John 6 and forever in New Jerusalem.

In verse 16 He says, “I Jesus have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches.” Thank You Lord for Your sending. And Lord, keep us in the churches to hear what the Spirit says to them (Rev. 2:7, 3:22). This is part of His work to prepare us for New Jerusalem.

In verse 16 He also says, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star.” Concerning this, a footnote in the Recovery Version says, “In His divinity, Christ is the Root, the source, of David; in His humanity, Christ is the Offspring, the issue, of David.” He is also the star to guide us through this dark age until He comes.

The Bible concludes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.” Lord, thank You for this wonderful grace to supply us today and to prepare us for New Jerusalem.

Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34 say, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” In these chapters the Lord Jesus tells us that our treasure is either earthly or heavenly. If we treasure earthly things, our heart will be earthly; if we treasure heavenly things, our heart will be heavenly. The condition of our heart determines our view of and expectations about New Jerusalem.

If we treasure earthly things, we will be people of anxiety, as in Matthew 6:24-34. In this anxious condition we are very susceptible and responsive to descriptions of New Jerusalem as having streets of material gold, physical mansions, very pleasant gardens, superb recreational facilities, etc.

In contrast, New Jerusalem is heavenly. Jesus Christ tells us that New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God (Rev. 3:12). New Jerusalem is the ultimate stage of God dwelling in man and man dwelling in God—John 15:4a, “Abide in Me and I in you.”

In New Jerusalem the Triune God is our all. The city “has the glory of God” (Rev. 21:11), “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (21:22), “its lamp is the Lamb” (21:23), the throne of God and the Lamb, the river of life (the Spirit), and the tree of life (Christ as our nourishment) are in the city (22:1-2), and we will see His face (22:4).

If our heart is set on heavenly things, we realize that these blessings are much more than material, corruptible riches. If our heart is set on earthly things, they become a veil, and we cannot see the reality of New Jerusalem. But, there is a promise for today: “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Lord, I turn my heart to You now; save me from the veils to have a clear view of You and of New Jerusalem.

New Jerusalem is pure: “the city was pure gold, like clear glass” (Rev. 21:18); “the street of the city was pure gold” (21:21); “bright and pure” (Rev. 19:8). These are the four occurrences of one Greek word in the description of New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:21 has the unique New Testament occurrence of a Greek word with related meaning. “The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” New Jerusalem is not only pure; the city is transparent.

We can grasp the sense of this transparency by looking at four related Greek words*, each of which occurs only once in the New Testament.
• We give heed to the Lord’s word, “as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). The sense is light breaking through the darkness.
• Satan has blinded people, “that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). God wants to shine into people to save them from Satanic darkness.
• In Troas, Paul spoke, “until daybreak” (Acts 20:11). Again, light shining to replace darkness.
• The Son of God is “the effulgence of His glory” (Heb. 1:3). The effulgence/radiance/ brightness/brilliance° is not a thing, it is the Person.

My summary: New Jerusalem is pure and transparent so that God’s glory in Christ may brilliantly shine through the city to testify that all darkness has been displaced. Revelation 21:23: “the glory of God illumined New Jerusalem, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

Revelation 21:23 says about New Jerusalem, “The city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” Revelation 22:5 says that those who constitute New Jerusalem, “have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them.”

Isaiah 60:19-20 says, You will no longer have the sun for your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but Jehovah will be an eternal light to you, and your God your beauty. Your sun will no longer go down, nor will your moon withdraw; for Jehovah will be an eternal light to you, and the days of your mourning will be ended.”

Isaiah is clearly a prophecy about New Jerusalem. Isaiah and Revelation match in no need of the sun, no need of the moon, and God being the light of the city.

Isaiah also tells us that “mourning will be ended.” In new heaven and new earth with New Jerusalem there will be no curse (Rev. 22:3), no devil (Rev. 20:10), no death (Rev. 20:14), and no sickness.

In addition, Isaiah tells us that God is the beauty of New Jerusalem. How wonderful that God Himself becomes the beauty. In New Jerusalem all outward beautification will be eliminated, just as lamps, sun, and moon are unneeded. God will show Himself as the most beautiful One in and through New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:23 says about New Jerusalem, “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

The glory of God as the light and the Lamb as the lamp signify that God in Christ is the light of the New Jerusalem in eternity. In the new city there is no need of the sun, the natural light, or any man-made lamp because God Himself will be the light, and Christ will be the lamp, shining out God to enlighten the entire city. This means that God in Christ is everything in the New Jerusalem. In the presence of the greatest light, all the lesser lights count for nothing. Outside the New Jerusalem there will still be day and night, but inside there will be no night (21:25).*

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). God is in Jesus Christ who is our light of life (John 8:12) today. Thus, inwardly we can experience the light of New Jerusalem. This light gives us a sense about things and actions. The sense may be peace or joy, indicating that something corresponds with the light. Or, the sense within may be uneasiness or confusion, indicating something that is of darkness rather than light.

We need first to be aware of this light, this sense, within and then give heed to it. Gradually we learn to live according to this inward divine light. God’s word is a help in our learning to live in the light.

Psalm 119:130 says that the opening, or entrance, of God’s Word gives light. Day by day we need to enter into the holy Word. Then we will see and be in the light, which is God Himself through His Word. Therefore, we should not realize or do anything according to our natural ability or according to the education we have received. We have God as our unique light to apply to our life.*

When we read, we need an attitude of seeking to gain the light of life, not merely seeking to have some knowledge. We need to be nourished by spiritual eating, with praying, meditating, and singing. These are good ways to open to the light of life and experience a foretaste of New Jerusalem.

Revelation 22:5 says about New Jerusalem, “Night will be no more; and they have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them.” The sun is one of the natural lights created by God and a lamp is one of the artificial lights made by men. Neither of them are needed in New Jerusalem.

The light of New Jerusalem is God Himself in Christ Jesus. This is Revelation 21:23, “The city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

God is light (1 John 1:5) and Jesus Christ is the light of life (John 1:4). They are not two separate lights; God is in Christ and shines through Him today. In New Jerusalem the glorious God shines from within the Lamb-Lamp.

In the ancient times the outer court of the tabernacle was lit by the sun during the day and by the moon at night, and the Holy Place was lit by the lampstand. In the Holy of Holies, however, there was no sun, no moon, and no lampstand. The light in the Holy of Holies was God Himself in His eternal glory….Besides the New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies in both the tabernacle and the temple is the only structure in the entire Scriptures that is equal in three dimensions. Similarly, the Holy of Holies is the only other place where there is need of no light other than God. This shows that in eternity the holy city will be the Holy of Holies. In the New Jerusalem God Himself in Christ will be everything to us. The Triune God will also be our light to enlighten us. Here we have the intrinsic essence of the New Jerusalem.°

Thank you Lord Jesus that You are our light of life today. Enlighten us more today.

In April there was an international meeting of Christians with the subject, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem. Following that time, the eight messages became the basis for eight weeks of a book with daily verses and reading portions. Daily enjoyment from those portions was posted by Stefan at A Normal Believer in Christ.

I encourage you to look at Stefan’s overview, which has a one line summary/link for each day of the eight weeks. Here are the titles of the eight messages, which are also the subjects of the eight weeks in the book, along with a link to one of his daily portions:

As the consummation of all the Bible verses pointing to the eternal marriage, in Revelation 21:2 John says, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem…prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” In 21:9 an angel said to John, “Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And in 21:10 John says that the angel “showed me the holy city, Jerusalem.”

The Lamb is our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. In New Jerusalem He is the Husband, He and God are the temple (21:22), He is the Lamp through whom God’s glory is shining (21:23), and He and God are on the throne (22:3).

The city, New Jerusalem, is the bride and wife of Jesus Christ. It is a living city, composed of all God’s people throughout the ages. This corporate people is married to Him.

This marriage fulfills the picture of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2; the Lord’s word in Exodus 20; His words through Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea; His speaking about Himself as the Bridegroom in the gospels; and the reality of the husband and wife in Ephesians 5.

Because New Jerusalem is the consummation of everything positive in the Bible, the characteristics of the city should (to some extent) be our experience today. The characteristics shown in the verses above are first, we take Him (the Lamb) as our Redeemer; because of His wonderful death, we can pray to receive forgiveness of sins from Him, and to thank Him for this forgiveness.

Second, He should be enthroned in our heart, or, as Ephesians 3 says, by prayer for the Spirit’s strengthening He can make home in our heart. Third, we should seek Him and come to Him daily as our temple. Fourth, we ask for His shining in us and through us. May the Lord keep us in His mercy that we may have these experiences as a foretaste of New Jerusalem as the wife of the Lamb.